- Red Lake, MN - Support has now concluded. Over the last 3 months almost 50 officers deployed
to support the needs of the Native American community and the Red Lake Hospital after the tragic school
shootings in March 2005.
- The July 4 celebration in Washington, DC, saw 400,000 attendees and Public Health Service Commissioned
Corps (Corps) officers deployed in medical tents on the National Mall from 9 a.m. until after the fireworks
concluded that evening. A team of officers was located nearby in case of a mass casualty event, and others
were in liaison roles around the National Capitol Region.
- Hurricane Dennis struck Pensacola, FL, on 10 July as a Category 3 storm. Most of the area physicians’
offices had no power for at least a week; hence residents sought care at one of the three hospitals within
a hundred square mile area. Corps officers augmented hospital pharmacy and nursing staff to deal with this
extremely high demand for care. They received high praise from the three hospital administrations for their
support.
- Hurricane Emily struck the Yucatan, then the northeastern coast of Mexico about 85 miles south of
Brownsville on 20 July. Corps officers who were activated for this event have been released.
Training
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- A Mental Health in Disasters training course was held at the Tower Building in Rockville, MD, 25 through 29 July.
- The Raven Wedge Exercise will be held in rural Maryland at Camp Fretterd, 8 through 17 August 2005. The exercise will
include state Air Guard units, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Public Health Service. The event will feature 6
days of intense training followed by a 3-day field exercise complete with a state of the art field medical
unit, patient simulators, and a telemedicine component. Course registration is now closed.
- The Office of Force Readiness and Deployment (OFRD) staff and Corps volunteers continue to offer BLS training
once monthly in the Tower Building. See OFRD’s Web site for registration information.
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Hurricane Season 2005
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The National Weather Service still projects more major hurricanes this season. The Office of Public Health
Emergency Preparedness (OPHEP) has requested OFRD identify teams of medical and public health professionals
that can deploy to a hurricane if required. This is different from previous requests in that OFRD is asking
officers to obtain pre-approval from their supervisors for the month that they are on a roster. |
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If you are needed for a deployment during your on-call month, you will be deployed for up to 14 days,
depending on the needs of the response. If you are on the August, September, or October roster and would
like to apply to be on the deployment roster, go to the following Web link – http://ccrf.hhs.gov/ccrf/missions/Hurricanes2005.htm |
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